Austrian GP
The hills were alive… with the sounds of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Race 11 Summary
July 10, 2022
Full discloser I wrote this the day of the race, but then I had a bit of a busy and unpredictable week, and since this is NOT my day job, there just weren’t enough hours in the day. But here we are… A post is still going up before the next GP weekend, and I’m learning to accept the messiness of this project, and keep pushing through the challenges.
We are officially halfway through the 22-race calendar of 2022. Needless to say this season hasn’t quite panned out how I had hoped, but there’s still 11 races left, so there’s still hope. For now, let’s just talk about the Austrian GP.
I was absolutely dreading this weekend. After an exciting race at Silverstone, I knew the race at Red Bull Ring was going to present some challenges. It has been a track that Mercedes hasn’t always thrived at, so the W13 was bound to exacerbate any previous challenges. Oh and did I mention it was a sprint weekend?? Yeah, well I will be ranting about that again.
Friday began with FP1 and Quali for Quali, which I couldn’t watch (but I followed along online). FP1 showed some promise, but the real first test for Mercedes was going to be qualifying. The Silver Arrows, lead by Sir Lewis Hamilton, were putting up IMPRESSIVE lap times. In Q2, Hamilton held P1 for like half the session! I (and many Mercedes fans) were feeling cautiously optimistic. The drivers were finding more pace than they were expecting, and Hamilton was looking to having a fighting chance at pole. And then Q3 happened. Hamilton had aborted 2 previous lap attempts, so his best time was only P8, as he never completed a full hot lap. As he was going through his 3rd attempt, he suddenly lost the rear and hit the wall. The problematic crowd (who I will be elaborating on later) cheered, before Hamilton was even out of the car, and there were reports of booing when he got out. Sadly, the wreck meant Hamilton was done for the day, and would likely be starting in P10. All Mercedes hopes fell to George Russell, who on his first push lap after the session resumed, lost his rear, and also found himself in the wall. It was a Friday to forget, as Max Verstappen went on to secure pole for the sprint race, with Charles Leclerc in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3. Sergio Perez was in the top 5 (I can’t remember where), but had all of his lap times deleted after Race Control failed to delete his best time in Q2 which exceeded track limits (oh, more on track limits coming too). Fortunately for Russell, his wreck happened with only 2 and a half minutes left of qualifying, which gave his competitors 1 lap to beat him. Technically, Perez was the only one who could, but he dropped down to P13 after the oversight was corrected, which meant Russell held on to P4. After Perez’s demotion, Hamilton was bumped up to P9. On to the sprint race!
THE SPRINT
Okay, new day, and the amazing and hard working team at Mercedes were able to rebuild/repair the two cars. Mercedes has had better race pace, so hopefully they would have better luck. Well… on lap 1, Hamilton was pinched and sandwiched between Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, in an incident that was scarily similar to how Zhou’s crash started last weekend. Fortunately it wasn’t near as bad, but Hamilton picked up some damage from the contact, which wasn’t helped when he was sandwiched AGAIN two turns later by Perez and Albon (AGAIN). Albon had a busy sprint race- involved in 2 contacts with Hamilton, pushing Norris off track, and I think something else, but I can’t remember. Hamilton was fighting his car the whole sprint, as he was carrying damage to his brakes and suspension, and it showed. He struggled to pass Mick Schumacher’s Haas for several laps. Schumacher was absolutely defending hard, but he was also helped by DRS from being within a second of his teammate. Lewis finally made the move, and secured P8 for the starting grid. George ran a lonely sprint, holding on to P4. Perez went from P13 to P5, aided by booping Hamilton on lap one, and a massive pace advantage through the midfield. Now let’s talk about the top 3. Max got away well at the start, but both Ferraris had pace. The only problem was… that BOTH Ferraris had pace. Leclerc made 1 or 2 attempts at passing Max before he was battling his teammate Carlos Sainz. In the back and forth between the two Ferraris, Max was able to build a couple second lead within a few laps, and Ferrari had no answer. So it ended with Max P1, Charles P2, and Carlos P3.
I know I’ve mentioned how much I detest sprint races, and this time is no different. If you are one of the people who think Sprint races are more exciting than practice, I have one question for you… Is ice colder than boiling water?
Obviously practice is less exciting than a race, but practice doesn’t exist for your entertainment. If everything has to be exciting, is anything actually exciting? The sprint (in my opinion) takes away from the race on Sunday. I personally would be more than happy if they did away with the sprint races, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Liberty Media, and the powers that be, are hell-bent on having sprint races, and having more sprint races. If they are going to exist, teams shouldn’t lose a practice, and the sprint definitely shouldn’t set the grid for the race. It has only ever allowed the stronger teams and drivers to get back into position (or closer to it). It doesn’t really shake up the grid, so is it actually working and creating a more exciting race? No. I’ll probably have more to say after the third sprint race this season, so for now let’s get into the REAL action.
THE ACTUAL RACE
Through clouds of orange smoke, the five lights went out and the real race began. Max again, got away well, but Charles was close behind. George got a decent jump, and was challenging Carlos for P3, before Carlos was able to get ahead. Then George and Sergio were in a tight battle for P4. Going through Turn (I think 3), the two left plenty of room as they challenged one another, but Turn 4 saw the two come together. I really won’t speak much on it, other than I felt
it was a racing incident because it was lap 1, and they’ve barely given a penalty on lap 1 incidents this year, and I felt Sergio had more room on the outside, so he could have given Russell a little more space. He didn’t, they touched, and Perez went off. He attempted to continue, but had received too much damage and had to retire. George meanwhile also had to change his front wing and was penalized 5 seconds for causing the collision. I don’t agree, but I’m not surprised.
Okay, so George had a lot of work to do, as he came out in P19 (last of the running cars) after his pit stop and penalty. Meanwhile, Hamilton stayed out of trouble on the opening lap, but found himself losing a place early on to Mick Schumacher’s Haas. Hamilton got it back in an absolutely BEAUTIFUL move, and went after Magnussen next, over taking him with ease thanks to DRS. Because Max had made an early pit stop, Hamilton found himself running in P4 behind Ocon and the two Ferraris.
Fortunately the Ferraris weren’t fighting each other as much this race. Leclerc really showed up today, and was clinging to Verstappen in the early stages. On lap 12, he made a nice move up the inside, overtaking Max for the lead of the race. Not long after, Max took his first pit stop, as he was complaining about his tires having no grip. The Ferraris wouldn’t pit until like 12 laps later, which would potentially give them the chance to go til the end of the race on that set of tires. By lap 30, Hamilton had successfully passed Ocon, and by lap 33 Leclerc easily passed Max for the lead AGAIN. After both Max and Charles pitted again, Leclerc found himself behind Verstappen once again. And for the third time was able to overtake Verstappen. Now, I’m not 100% sure what the issue was, but Verstappen had really high tire degradation this race, and struggled to match Leclerc’s race pace. Sainz also pitted a second time, which put him behind Max, but charging after him. It was looking like it was going to be a Ferrari 1-2 at Red Bull’s home race, but on lap 57, Carlos Sainz’s engine gave up. No, that’s putting it too mildly… It exploded. Engine reliabilities yet again plaguing Ferrari, as Sainz hadn’t yet upgraded his engine. They lost a huge haul of points that would have helped them in the championship battle with Red Bull, especially with Perez already out. Flames quickly started to spread on Sainz’s car, and the Spaniard struggled to get out.
It was honestly horrifying to watch as his car continued to roll down the hill, and he struggled to hop out. He’s fine, and Marshalls were able to extinguish the fire and stop the car (before it could roll on track). I felt that the Marshalls’ response was a little too slow for my liking. Every second counts when there is a fire, and it took the first Marshall (what felt like) an eternity to get there, and either put blocks under the car so that it would stop rolling, or focus on putting out the fire. I do not want to seem too harsh on these men and women, as they are volunteers, and they absolutely risk their lives. I think it would definitely be helpful for the FIA to look at the incident, and see if any improvements can be made, either in training the Marshalls to respond to fire in a more organized fashion, and/or ensuring the drivers know how park their car on a hill. With no hand brake, Sainz had no way to stop his car from rolling back down the hill. The first Marshall was fumbling with the blocks to stop the car and the fire extinguisher. I personally felt that two should have been able to respond at the same time, one to put the blocks behind the wheels and help the driver out, and the other to extinguish. This is all 100% easier said than done, and I don’t blame them for responding as any human would when they see flames. Ultimately everyone was safe, and the car was put out. F1 literally could not happen without the sacrifice of these brave men and women, who again, are largely volunteers.
Stressed Evan hoping that Leclerc’s throttle doesn’t ruin his race.
Moving on…. the incident brought out a VSC, which several drivers took the opportunity to pit. For the final 10 laps or so, it looked like Max couldn’t have an answer for Leclerc’s pace; HOWEVER, Leclerc’s radio message box popped up on screen and we all assumed the worst. Fortunately his engine was fine, but he was having issues with his throttle pedal getting stuck. Even with him having to fight his own throttle, he managed to maintain his gap, and cross the line in first. Meaning, Verstappen only managed P2 at Red Bull’s home race, and I’m quite relieved. Oh, and who finished P3??? Sir Lewis, who was absolutely stellar! Russell also had a brilliant drive, going from P19 at one point to P4!! The Merc boys brought home a podium (Three in a row for Hamilton), and all in all was massive damage limitation. The top 10 was rounded out by Ocon, Schumacher, Norris, Magnussen, Ricciardo, and Alonso. To be honest, all of those drivers had pretty good races, having to fight through some traffic and DRS trains at times.
FAVE CREATORS
Quickstop F1 Podcast: 2022 Austrian GP Review. “Nyasha and Thandie are joined by the hottest new (not new) F1 content creator, he is the man under the visor and everyone's favourite go-to for everything driver/overtaking related - Brad Philpot! We discuss with Brad the absolutely disgusting abuse levelled at racegoers in Spielberg, the Charles v Max battle for the championship as well as a heap of (tongue in cheek) praise for George Russell. There's also some very harsh but fair words for Daniel Ricciardo towards the end...”
On the Chicane: 2022 Austria GP Race Review. “Join Paris and Marium as they discuss all of the highlights from the 2022 Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring. It was a difficult weekend for some fans, and as mentioned in the video if anybody is having issues with harassment, please go to the authorities, and feel free to come to us for support. Grid Clique have also put together a group for fans (mostly women) dealing with issues at GPs.”
Brad Philpot (^yes the same one who was a guest on Quickstop): Austrian GP Questions Answered. “Answering your questions about the driving side of Formula 1. We discuss: Stewarding decisions at the Austrian GP, Sainz's fire, Leclerc's brake issue, and Track limits”
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Winners:
-Mercedes
-Haas
Mercedes- Damage limitation and two solid drives by Hamilton and Russell. The pit crew was yet again on their D-game, but the drivers managed the maximum points that they could. Also, celebrating the hard work by all the mechanics who worked so hard to piece together two race cars after the wrecks on Friday.
Haas- Double points again?! And Mick improved on his finish last week, securing a very impressive P6! Well done!
Losers:
-Ferrari
-The Crowd
Ferrari- Y’all won the race and I’m still putting you down here for 2 reasons. First (and most obvious) that engine is a disaster. That catastrophic of a failure is so wild to see, and really cost the team. Carlos will definitely be taking a penalty next race, so you’re gonna have some work to do. Second, I’m still critical by how you conducted your strategy in the sprint race. Y’all can fight one another when you are in P1 and P2, but you had a chance to secure pole (and the 8 points that come with it) if you hadn’t have messed around.
The Crowd- Wow. I really should create a whole post about the horrible actions and behavior at the Austrian Grand Prix. And honestly, I had planned to talk more about it, but I just don’t have the words now. I feel it is a small glimpse of the misogyny and racism that exists in certain fan bases, but also seems deeply ingrained in the sport. It was disgusting reading how women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people of color were treated at this race in particular, but also treated by the F1 community as a whole. F1 and the FIA need to step in and create a safe environment for all spectators.
My Driver of the Day: this is a tough one. The fans gave it to Mick, and I definitely think he had an impressive race, but I’m torn between Charles and George… I’m going to give it to Charles Leclerc, for bringing home the W at Red Bull Ring (Ferrari’s first win there since 2003), and managing the throttle pedal at the end. I wide turn, and Max would have likely retaken the lead. That’s a lot of stress and pressure, so well done.
Carlos Sainz’s on fire Ferrari
>SILVER ARROW POINTS
>Honestly, I didn’t write this part immediately after the race, so this is gonna be quick (unlike Mercedes’s pit stops).
>Sir Lewis got to stand on the podium at Red Bull’s home GP, so that kind of feels like a win this season.
>The Austrian GP weekend was honestly not Mercedes weekend, so the fact that they managed P3 and P4 is a beautiful testament to the hard work of the mechanics and engineers who rebuilt the cars, AND the skill and determination of both drivers.
Okay, that’s all I have. I’m not going to lie, a huge part of me just wants to pretend like I’ve already posted something, and forget about it. I feel embarrassed for posting about this race so long after the fact. I’m trying to have fun with this little project while also take it somewhat seriously. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, and things that are supposed to be fun, don’t stay fun for long. I’d like this to still be fun, so I’m trying to go easy on myself a little. Anyways… I don’t think a lot of eyeballs see or read my work. If you’re reading this… thank you. I do this for me, but the hope of you helps.
I’ll be back to discuss the French GP. Have a good week!